


why don't you just meet me in the middle

by ackermanx



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates, Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: F/M, Performing Arts AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-21
Updated: 2018-02-21
Packaged: 2019-03-22 06:38:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13758411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ackermanx/pseuds/ackermanx
Summary: @ my giftee(?):hahaha. hello thereI was the person assigned to make you a chocolate box exchange fic, and I am so sorry that I wasn't able to get this to you on time, but I was determined to get this fic to you whether or not it would be late because I would feel terrible if I just flaked , so.I hope you do enjoy though!!! oTL(also there's a healthy amount of awakening characters in here because. I still swear Inigo and laslow are the same person)





	why don't you just meet me in the middle

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TSwiftEliot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TSwiftEliot/gifts).



> @ my giftee(?):
> 
> hahaha. hello there
> 
> I was the person assigned to make you a chocolate box exchange fic, and I am so sorry that I wasn't able to get this to you on time, but I was determined to get this fic to you whether or not it would be late because I would feel terrible if I just flaked , so.
> 
> I hope you do enjoy though!!! oTL
> 
> (also there's a healthy amount of awakening characters in here because. I still swear Inigo and laslow are the same person)

prologue

 

"I'm sorry, it...it has to end this way."

 

Laslow shuffles his feet, fiddles with the ends of his sleeves, and looks so incredibly nervous and frazzled and  _sad_ that Azura wants to do something, anything, but her entire body is frozen in place.

 

"But why?" she whispers instead. "I'm sure we could work something out as...adults, or...something."

 

"There's nothing more I'd love to do, believe me, but I - I've read the stories, I've seen the movies, I know they're all fictional, but I couldn't live with myself if our careers got in the way of us, so...I'm so sorry, I hope you understand."

 

Azura blinks back the hints of tears starting to form and looks, really looks at the person standing in front of her. He's slumped over in resignation, regret deep in his eyes, but Azura already knows that once Laslow feels this strongly about something, there's no convincing him otherwise.

 

(And she knows, despite the loss already gnawing at her heart, that he's right, that it would be oh-so-easy for them to fall out over auditions and opportunities both taken and not taken, that it would be smart to quit while they were still ahead.)

 

So Azura inhales shakily and extends a friendly hand towards a half-surprised, half-relieved Laslow.

 

"...It was an honor to love you, Laslow. May we meet again on the stage."

 

* * *

 

 

act I

 

"Another flyer? Corrin, I already told you - "

 

" - that you really appreciate my efforts to help, but fate has its own plans and will give you a chance to act when the time is right, I  _know_."

 

Corrin drapes herself over the back of their shared couch in an overdramatic sigh, and Azura faintly thinks that acting must run in the family.

 

"If you do know, then why do you insist on bringing me casting calls for plays put on my groups I've never heard of?"

 

" _Because_ ," Corrin explains slowly, "I'm not going to watch my insanely talented cousin waste away if fate decides to be an ass and doesn't offer you a chance, like, ever. I've told you what my professor says all the time, right? 'Challenge your fate,' or something like that?"

 

"You're a lawyer, aren't you? That takes on a different meaning for you, that doesn't count."

 

"Eh, same principle."

 

With a wave of her hand, Corrin dismisses the objection. "Then you know what, I am so certain that this is good for you that if you don't get a single successful audition from the next five flyers that I give you, I will pay our rent for three whole months."

 

 _That_ gets Azura's attention; her eyes grow wide and she nearly upsets the cup of tea that she was holding. "But you have less money than I do! You're still in school, and I'm...well...not."

 

"And that's how sure I am that your'e going to love something. Try just a few more, please? If not for the deal then for yourself."

 

Azura sighs, settles down on the couch that Corrin was still precariously balanced on, and fondly pokes her in the stomach. "You're going to be a great lawyer, I can already tell. Even right now, you're terrible at knowing when to stop."

 

"Oh, stop with the flattery. What if it gets to my head?"

 

Grinning, Corrin slides down to take a proper seat next to Azura and picks the discarded flyer from the table in front of them. "So will you consider it?"

 

The paper twitches with each slow flick of Corrin's wrist, practically taunting Azura.  _Parking lot of the library in downtown Nohr,_ she reads silently  _Script will be provided on-site. June 20th, nine PM...that's tonight, isn't it?_

 

She opens her mouth, fully ready to decline the offer with some feeble excuse, but the words that roll off of her tongue instead are "okay, I'll do it."

 

" _Yes_!" Corrin pumps a fist in excitement. "See, I promise you that you won't regret this - "

 

"Please, you don't need to say anything. You already look far too happy about this than any innocent person should be."

 

"Is it so hard to believe that I have nothing but good intentions for my dear, sweet cousin?"

 

Azura rolls her eyes fondly as Corrin cries out in mock despair, but Corrin's face softens just as quickly and her tone turns serious.

 

"Really, though, is there anything I can do to help? I guess it's the least I can do after practically forcing this onto you."

 

"Oh...no, don't worry. I just need some time to prepare myself the best I can, and - "

 

She turns to study the map of bus routes on the wall, closes he eyes, sighs when she realizes that all of the buses shut down at ten because  _of course they do, that's just my luck_ , and grins sheepishly at Corrin.

 

" - transportation."

 

* * *

 

 

Parking lots have terrible acoustics, Azura finds out quickly, so she can't help but wonder why anyone would voluntarily do anything involving speaking in one of these concrete hellholes.

 

Not that she would  _ever_ say such a thing out loud - the happily chattering clusters of people simply don't allow for such a negative train of thought, and Azura would rather not leave a bad taste in people's mouths before she even gets the chance to audition.

 

Speaking of which - what on Earth were they going to read from, anyway? She had heard rumors among the gathering; maybe it would be Shakespeare, maybe it would be a musical (What if we did Wicked? Gods, I'd love to be Glindaj." "...Severa, you're already in the company." "Well,  _yeah_ , but - "); maybe it would be one of those modern plays,  _please no, I don't know if I could pour myself into something that doesn't click with me -_

 

"Good evening, ladies! And gentlemen, of course, wouldn't want to forget you, of course."

 

Azura's blood runs ice-cold and she can't - doesn't dare to - breathe.'

 

She'd know that voice anywhere, had dreamed about it so many times, had  _lived_ with that voice for so long that it was part of her soul whether she liked it or not. Almost afraid to look up, she settles for peeking through her eyelashes, angling her head downwards to hide her hair in the crowd (which she was sure stuck out like a sore thumb, despite the orange-haired boy chatting up a storm barely a foot away from her) and - really, there was no reason for her to be so taken aback, but her breathing hitches a little when she sees Laslow's full, radiant face even though it's been years since she's even caught a hint of it.

 

 _Gods_ , she thinks.  _I must miss him more than I thought I did._

 

A stray elbow jostles Azura back to reality, and she realizes that she's missed more than half of the spiel. She strains her ears, hoping to catch the last of the instructions, but all she manages to hear is "so now, we'll start calling you guys up one by one!"

 

Only slightly panicking, Azura's first instinct is to attract the least amount of attention to her as possible, hoping that maybe one of the other people in the company would get to her before Laslow would. Which includes moving away from the previously spotted orange-haired boy - not that Azura didn't like him at all, but she  _was_ wary of the amount of people's eyes that would surely be drawn to her if she started a conversation with him. So she shuffles a little to the side, ending up next to a tired-looking, blue-haired woman who looks vaguely familiar, and shoots her what's hopefully a reassuring smile.

 

"Hey," Azura whispers. "What's your name? I don't think I've seen you around."

 

Looking somewhat bemused, the other girl simply tilts her head. "I'm not from around here."

 

"O - Oh, um - sorry about that - "

 

"But my name is Lucina, and please don't feel like you need to apologize for that."

 

Lucina's mouth curves upwards in a tiny but genuine smile, the corners of her eyes crinkle, and Azura  _really_ feels like she's experiencing the world's strongest sense of deja vu right now.

 

She blinks once and Lucina's minuscule smile disappears (Azura panics internally for a good amount of time), only to be replaced with a fond, mildly annoyed one.

 

"Inigo," Lucina calls to a point somewhere beyond Azura's left shoulder. "Have you seen Cynthia?"

 

"Funny you should mention her! She's, uh, recovering. At Laurent's apartment. Hello ma'am, you're next in the auditions, here's your part."

 

"Recovering for what?" With a dangerous glint in her eyes, Lucina continues the line of questioning, but Azura finds herself completely frozen in place.

 

For the second time in an hour.

 

_Corrin's never letting me live this down when she finds out, is she?_

 

Lucina was still there, though, and Azura valued her pride more than her mostly-healed heart, so she takes a deep breath, plasters on a polite smile, and whirls around to take her script from the offending party with a mumbled "thanks."

 

Except she can't. Take her script, that is. Azura frowns and tugs at the paper a few times - frowns at the hand that refuses to let go - finally looking up when there's nothing else that she can do and makes eye contact with the person that she least wanted to see (but still missed intensely, though she would admit that to no one).

 

The first thing that comes out of her mouth is "I thought your name was  _Laslow_."

 

_Great. Way to sound not bitter at all. Definitely nailed it._

 

To her twisted amusement, Laslow (Inigo?) looks just as shocked as Azura had felt when she first saw him here. Azura can see one of Lucina's eyebrows creeping up her forehead slowly out of the corner of her eyes, then Maslow-Inigo suddenly shoves the script he's holding into Lucina's hands and starts talking.

 

"The honorable lady of the house. Which is she?"

 

...Ah. So that's how he was going to approach this situation.

 

"Speak to me; I shall answer for her," Azura replies quietly, because Shakespeare was one of the reasons Azura had gotten into acting in the first place, and Maslow-Inigo knew this, and of  _course_ he would choose  Twelfth Night, one of the first plays they had acted in together. "Your will?"

 

"Most radiant, exquisite, and unmatchable beauty - " ah, and there was his old flirtatious attitude peeking through - "I pray you, tell me if this be the lady of the house, for I never saw her: I would be loath to cast away my speech."

 

"Whence came you, sir?"

 

"I can say little more than I have studied."

 

"Are you a comedian?"

 

"No - and yet, I swear, I am not that I play. Are you the lady of the house?"

 

Azura pauses, makes sure that Maslow-Inigo has his full attention on her, and delivers the last line as quietly as she can.

 

"If I do not usurp myself, I am."

 

Then, without stopping to see the looks on anyone's faces, she turns and strides out of the parking lot, willing herself not to look back.

 

* * *

 

act II

 

She barely makes it three blocks away before she hears the tell-tale sounds of someone chasing after her.

 

"Before you say anything," Azura calls, "explain to me how you're here when I though that you had moved away for good ages ago. And who you _really_ are."

 

A few more footsteps, and a familiar pink-haired figure is next to her, subtly gasping for breath. "I...suppose I owe...you that much at...the very least. First of all, my real name, it's...Inigo. The only reason I changed it was because I wanted to...try to leave my old life behind."

 

Somewhat confused, Azura starts fidgeting with the ends of her sleeves and slows her pace.

 

"Leave behind what? You have a good group here. Close friends, it seems like. And I'm sure your family loves you too, they'd be idiots not to. So what? What was so terrible that you had to make up an entirely new persona?"

 

"My old playboy reputation?" Inigo winks, but his smile falters when all Azura does is roll her eyes. "...Nothing, really. I guess I was just young and dumb."

 

"I can believe that," Azura mumbles, but there's a hint of softness in her face now and Inigo is going to count that as a victory, however small it may be.

 

"Honestly, I don't know how you're feeling right now, but...at the very least, could I join you for some tea as a friend? We can talk about my past if you want, of the play we're going to do, or - or nothing at all, I'm not too particular - "

 

Azura quietly raises an eyebrow, which is all that it really takes for Inigo to realize that he's babbling, _sure, what a wonderful time for his nervous tics to resurface_ so he snaps his jaw shut, clears his throat, and offers up the most sheepish grin he can manage.

 

"Do you really believe," she says slowly, "that you can walk back into my life after two years of complete silence and have everything return to how it was before?"

 

Inigo swallows audibly.

 

Completely overwhelmed, Azura can't help the snort that escapes from her.

 

Both of Inigo's eyebrows practically shoot up into the stratosphere, and Azura only laughs harder because of it. "This is...ridiculous," she wheezes, gasping for air on a sidewalk, in public, _oh, if people weren't staring before she definitely will now_. "This situation is ridiculous,  _we_ are ridiculous - why don't we go back to my place? Corrin won't be home until later tonight, and we can talk about all this in private. Deal?"

 

Finally daring to relax, Inigo visibly sags and a radiant smile (a real smile) spreads across his face.

 

"O - Okay. Okay! Okay."

 

* * *

 

act III

 

"Lucina is your cousin? I made a bad impression in front of your _cousin_?"

 

"I wouldn't say that was a bad impression! She likes you, I think."

 

Inigo picks up his cup of tea, mumbling something into it that sounds like "well, giver her taste in girls."

 

Azura can feel a small migraine coming on at the thought of Inigo's friends and family thinking badly of her already. All because she was an idiot for a few minutes.

 

"But, hey, don't overthinking it," Inigo continues, seemingly oblivious to Azura's internal conflict. "Once you guys meet each other and talk, I'm a hundred percent sure you'll be absorbed into our little family in no time. And I'll get you a more formal audition, too, since I'm not sure whether or not Laurent will count the impromptu Shakespeare as - "

 

The front door creaks open (surprisingly gently), Inigo freezes in fear, and Corrin's voice echoes through the apartment.

 

 "Azura?...Hey, I'm back. How did everything...go..."

 

She trails off when she rounds the corner into the living room and sees Inigo sitting on the couch next to Azura. Azura can practically hear the gears turning in Corrin's head as she processes how closely they're sitting, the steaming pot of tea on the table, and picks up one of the shoes that she had just discarded threateningly.

 

"You - you  _asshole_ , get out, how  _dare_ you even show your face around here after you - you - "

 

"Corrin," Azura interjects before she really  _does_ throw that shoe. "Corrin, it's fine. I already made him explain everything."

 

The shoe hand lowers just a little. "Was it a good explanation, at least? Not something half-baked?"

 

"Yeah...yeah, a pretty good explanation, don't worry. He wouldn't be sitting here if it wasn't."

 

Corrin _humphs,_ dropping her shoe on the ground and kicking it to the side. "Alright, I trust your judgement. But if he breaks your heart again..."

 

All that Inigo can do is offer a shaky grin. "Good evening to you too, Corrin."

 

"Good evening, my ass," she mumbles, but she ruffles Inigo's hair on the way to her room. "So I'll be studying, there's leftover dinner in the fridge, and please try not to do anything disgusting while I'm still here, because I have enough trauma concerning that, I think."

 

Both Azura's and Inigo's faces turn bright red at that.

 

Corrin just bursts out laughing, all the way until she shuts her door with a far-too-loud "have fun!"

 

Azura reaches down and takes her cup of tea into her hands on autopilot, even though it's long gone cold. Inigo puts his cup down, finding the carpet to be a fascinating subject of study.

 

"So," he coughs, "it's getting pretty late, I should be going home or Owain will be up all night wondering where I've gone - "

 

"Wait - "

 

One of Azura's arms shoot out to catch Inigo before he leaves, sudden fear of being alone, again, after all of the catching up they've done tonight, filling her body.

 

"Stay."

 

(fin)

**Author's Note:**

> the only plays I know are is Shakespeare plays . gomen
> 
> yell at me on twitter @axlotlols !!


End file.
